A dead man with the rats (Skaven x Krieg guardsman)

((A story based on this absolutely lovely piece of art.
https://s1.desu-usergeneratedcontent.xyz/trash/image/1552/88/1552885570687.jpg ))

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CH. 1 - Out of the meat grinder into the grave

>Bright flashes
>Crimson red tendrils
>Then darkness
>A Kriegsman wakes up in a forest clearing, rubbing the back of his helmet after blacking out
>Surrounded in every direction with plantlife all around him with no clear way out
>Rustling of leaves and bushes prompts him to look towards the source of the racket
>A large rat's head pops out staring intently at the guardsman with crimson red eyes, analyzing him for an unknown reason
>He reciprocates the Rat-person's stare with his own cold lifeless one
>The Rat satisfied with the examination of the man quickly skitters towards him, shoving away tree branches and bushes that blocked it's path
>Wondering what the Abhuman was doing he stood his ground, unflinching and unmoving
>Running out of the bushes and bristle the Rat-person eyed the guardsman further
>Scrutinizing his gear and lack thereof armor on his person
>The guardsman takes this chance to examine the Abhuman closer while it was busy with it's examination of him
>A simple red dress and pellegrina in a blue tint that matched the Kriegsman's own greatcoat, it adorned... Her figure torn in some places due to overuse
>He examines the Abhuman further, stopping at her eyes she huffs out and stops her eyeing of him
>Shooting her head up, she grabbed his hand in a flash and let out an excited squeal, chittering out in a rather gruff while still noticeably feminine tone
>"Man-thing, come-come follow me! I will keep you safe."
>She quickly started off to some direction in the forest only to be stopped by the guardsman's unmoving form
>Looking back she sees him turn his masked head downwards to look her in the eyes shooting her a cold, emotionless stare behind the mask
>Shivers went down her spine as her glands threatened to secrete a musk of fear
>She lowers her head as her ears flatten down, trying to avoid the dead stare he was giving her
>With another gentle pull she walks towards a direction in the unknown forest only to be met with no resistance on the guardsman's part
>With renewed joy, a beaming smile spread across her muzzle and picked up her pace with the guardsman struggling behind
After minutes of mindless walking a cave comes into view
>the Rat-woman's smile breaking into a large toothy grin revealing sharp dagger-like teeth, she tried to break off into a full sprint only being stopped by the man's strength
>Rustling of different bushes catches the guardsman's attention reaching for his entrenching tool he surveys the area carefully, noticing a pair of piercing red eyes staring at him from a bush
>Being stopped by walking into the Rat-woman, now shaking like a giddy child she practically yells out "Man-thing, this is the hive-home!"
>Her expression changes to a serious one in an instant angrily muttering loud enough for the Man to hear "Do not let my sister-peasants get close, they will take-steal you from me."
>The guardsman clenches on the entrenching tool's handle still staring out at the bush where the red eyes were now gone, turning back to her and nods
>The same toothy grin is plastered on her muzzle, revealing her sharp fangs again
>"Good-good! Come with me."
>Pulling the guardsman along through twisting and turning cave the duo finally reach an opening
>He stares at the spectacle before him, a bustling "city" if he could call it, ropes stringing together wooden floors with homes sitting atop of it stuck to the walls of the large underground opening
>The muffled chittering of thousands, possibly millions of rats drowning out all other noise, the guardsman looks at the Rat-woman holding his hand seemingly tighter than before
>She was looking around, visibly worried and distressed at all the Rats moving around the place
>Taking a few steps a loud clang is all that's heard before the guardsman falls unconscious, unceremoniously falling gasmask first onto the dirt floor
>The Rat-woman that accompanied him being knocked unconscious the same way
>As the guardsman constantly fades in and out of consciousness he notices that he's being dragged before fading into darkness again
>Waking up the man places a gloved hand where he had been struck, stopping he looked around trying to figure out where he was
>He was in a pit with walls too high for him to scale, looking upwards he sees seats lining the outer rim of the pit all being occupied by Rat-people not too unlike the one he met hours ago
>A cage over the rim of the pit kept them out and him in, looking back down he sees his entrenching tool haphazardly tossed away
>Kneeling down, he picked it up and securely clasped it within it's sheath, feeling his person he checked for any other gear
>Lasgun, Bayonet, Spare Krak grenades, Bed roll, backp-
>Before he could finish taking stock of his gear, a loud speaker cuts off his train of thought
>"SISTERS AND RAT-SLAVES, WE HAVE ANOTHER MAN-THING TO BATTLE-FIGHT OUR RAT-OGRE!" In a similar tone to the Rat-woman's gruffness of voice
>As the voice stops the deafening roar of the crowd overtakes the arena with a door across from the Kriegsman opens
>It creaks and groans slightly jutting out with something smashing against it, soon the culprit is revealed
>A muscle bound Rat beast, snarling angrily flicking it's tail left and right eyeing down the man in the pit
>The guardsman stares at the beast, feeling no emotion while facing down something several times larger and stronger than him
>Pulling out his Lasgun he sets it to high power and aims it towards the giant beast as it roars, standing its ground
>The speaker pipes up again with that same voice "POOR MAN-THING! THE OGRE-RAT IS GOING TO KILL-SQUISH HIM INT-"
>The speaker is cut off by the flash of his Lasgun, it punches through the Rat-ogre's skull leaving a sizable but cauterized hole where it hit along with a hole in the wall behind the beast
>The now brainless body of the beast falls and twitches it's last bits of life away as the guardsman holsters his weapon and waits
>The speakers let out a high pitched Rat squealing as the arena's bystanders watch in absolute shock and terror
>The arena goes deathly silent before a loud screech of the speakers broadcasts the now very weak voice of the announcer
>"T-the Man-thing killed o-our Ogre-Rat" the announcer rasped out in a defeated tone
>One "WOO" could be heard from the familiar voice of the Rat-woman that the Kriegsman first met
>The Rat-people still shocked from the display stare at man, who stared back
>Creaking is all that is heard from the arena as the door behind the man opened, taking his chance he leaves not uttering a single word
>Entering the room connected to the door a familiar Rat-woman tackles the guardsman, barely making him trip
>"I knew-predicted you can do it, my Man-thing!" she chitters excitedly while placing her head in the crook of his neck
>As she quietly mumbled to herself the man stares at the second figure in the room, yet another one of the Rat-women
>This one being snow white with rather large curved horns on her head  compared to the brown Rat-woman that was latched onto him
>She walked over with an evil grin plastered on her face, letting out a raspy laugh "You are the Man-thing that has kill-slain the ogre-rat?"
>Studying her for a second he stopped at the crimson red eyes and slowly nodded, only making her grin widen
>"Welcome to clan-Oestrus your new home-stay, Man-thing..." she rasped out, trailing her hand across his mask forcing his head to follow her movement to a point
>He gives a nod once her hand leaves his face, turning his gaze back onto the woman on him
>The Rat-woman clinging to him suddenly let go and started pulling on his arm "Come-come, my Man-thing. I will show you my home-quarters!"
>Allowing himself to be pulled along he wonders one thing, what were these strange Rat Abhumans even called
>Reaching one of the small shacks constructed on the suspended wooden flooring she excitedly pushes the "door" in revealing... a rather lackluster room consisting of a bedroll, a collection of knives hung up on the wall, and a window
>After examining the room, the guardsman turns his gaze to her tilting his head slightly
>With a shrug she plainly explains
>"This is your new living-home my Man-thing."
>Looking back to the shack, he walks in hitting his helmet on several different areas of the rather cramped living space
>Rolling out the bedroll that lay atop his backpack on to the floor, he turned back to the Rat-woman
>She sagged a bit when he dropped the cot, her smile faltering a bit
>"O-oh, you d-don't want to sleep-r-rest with me, my Man-thing?"
>Staring at the Rat-woman that stood in front of him, he crouched back down grabbing the roll and walked in the direction of hers
>A quiet squeal of happiness escaped her and quickly skittered towards her own bedroll, passing by the guardsman
>Unfazed by it, he dropped his own roll next to hers letting it extend to it's full length before dropping the end
>Sitting down on it he turned his head to face the Rat-woman who was lying on her side eyeing him down, tracing circles on the floor with a sharpened claw
>Turning back he stares at the collection of knives and other sharp objects on the wall, mindlessly pulling off his backpack he lies down when it's off, facing away from the Rat-woman
>Slithering her arms around the man in front of her, she inhales deeply snuggling closer to the Kriegsman  letting a large smile spread across her muzzle as she slowly drifts off to sleep
>The guardsman however was wide awake, sitting as still as a corpse in the trenches
>He had been mulling over what to make of this situation, did the Emperor finally re-accept his people and sent him to live a better life...
>Or was it the most logical answer, a Warp portal pulling him from his homeworld and taking his only chance to redeem himself in the Emperor's eyes away for good
>Dropping the thought he laid his head on the pillow of his cot, fading off into a dreamless sleep

>The man wakes, rising up to a sit almost robotically
>the Rat-woman that had her arms around him was flung into a seated position, snorting as the last bits of sleep were torn from her
>"-Ugh, what-what's happenin'..." She said with a yawn, stretching to pop multiple bones in her body with a relieved groan
>The Kriegsman next to her quietly puts the backpack that laid next to him on, turning to look at the half-asleep Rat next to him
>She rubs the last bit of sleep away from her eyes and let out a rather satisfied yawn
>With a gentle smile she murmurs "Was the best-greatest sleep-rest I had in a long-while."
>"Come-come, follow!" Hopping quickly to her feet she whizzed past the guardsman
>Closing the "door" behind himself he quickly trails behind the Rat, noticing the place wasn't bustling but was as quiet as him
>The only other audible sound being the quick pittering of light paws hitting wood and his own heavy thumps as his boots met the wood
>Leading the guardsman to the "heart" of the hive she sits on the dirt floor, staring up at the roof of the cave
>Noticing this he also sits down, pulling out his entrenching tool idly rubbing the edges of the weapon, staring at his reflection on the serrated edge of it
>He was nothing more than a weapon to enact the Emperor's holy will, the sins of his rebellious ancestors still fresh in his mind
>Letting his head drop onto the weapon, he mutters out his first sound since he was dragged into this unknown world
>"In life, war. In death, peace. In life, shame. In death, atonement." In a cold bone-chilling baritone voice, as blank and devoid of life as anyone would expect
>Turning his head to look the Rat-woman sitting next to him, he saw her simply staring at him, jaw on the floor her mind drawing blanks on what to say
>Raising a finger, a few incomprehensible mumbles escaped her maw before yelling out "MAN-THING, YOU CAN TALK-SPEAK!?"
>Curtly nodding he returned to staring at his shovel again, taking a deep look into the lens of his gasmask in the reflection
>She stared at him, dumbfounded at his ability to switch on and off at a moments notice
>Scooting herself closing to him until she bumped into his side, with him taking no notice she cleared her throat loudly while fidgeting with her hands nervously catching his attention
>"Uhm, my Man-thing, we never exchanged name-aliases yes-yes?"
>He tilts his head upwards staring blankly at the wall a few good feet behind her, seemingly deep in thought before lowering it back down to look at her with a shake of the head
>"O-oh, I am Snuch Pineweaver, scout-watcher of Skaven clan Oestrus." Slightly avoiding his empty stare while talking
>He grabs her paw and whispers in the same emotionless voice
>"Snuch Pineweaver..."
>He keeps hold of her paw but let's their hands rest on the floor while he mindlessly rubs her furred hand with a thumb
>She stared intently at her paw covered by the guardsman's gloved hand, feeling a bit flustered
>Was he finally catching onto her not-so-discreet attempts at affection?
>With a small smile she looked up, to see the guardsman staring into nothingness
>Her heart drops at his spaced out stare, returning her stare to the roof of the cave
>Closing her eyes she rests her head on the man's pauldron, waiting for her sisters to wake up and get to their daily schedule
>Murder, pillage, kidnap, enslave, die
>A low rumble of possible millions of Skaven making their way to their posts roar throughout the cave
>Snuch stood up and stretched, pulling the Kriegsman up with her
>"Come-come, my Man-thing it's time to scout-search."
>With a curt nod he allows himself to be dragged off by the Skaven, not noticing the many other eyes locked onto him and his companion

CH. 2 - Decomposition

>Light, air, warmth
>The duo had reached the surface, back in the forest the two met
>Snuch pulled the guardsman along past bushes and brustle, tree branches constantly barraging his face that was thankfully protected by the mask he wore
>Until it came to a screeching halt, they were finally out of the forest staring down a town
>to the Kriegsman it looked like a miniature hive city that he was all too used to seeing, both built and destroyed
>She kept a tight grip on his gloved hand, pulling the pellegrina up to conceal her face and muzzle and started to trek towards the city, pulling the man with her
>She kept a firm grip on the handle of her dagger, ready to pull it out at a moments notice
>Reaching the gate of the city the guards that stood steadfast merely glancing over the duo, feeling slightly unnerved at the much taller man staring back with a dead gaze
>The guards went back to their previous stoic expression, letting the two in without giving a second glance
>Snuch looked back quickly then to the Kriegsman going along like nothing happened
>"My Man-thing, you didn't have to fight-kill them!?"
>The Kriegsman kept his gaze forward, but shook his head no to the question
>She lets go of the handle, letting her now free hand dangle uselessly as the two wandered down the filthy streets
>Passing by peasants and drunkards either dead or sleeping, the Kriegsman looking at each of the bodies as they go by
>Suddenly he was pulled into a nearby Alleyway by the Rat-woman "escorting" him
>A serious look was plastered on what he could see of her face, constantly peeking around the corner as if searching for something
>"My Man-thing, do you hear that? Come-come listen."
>Her voice was barely above a whisper but he heard it, he makes his way to the corner and looking down the path they were walking
>He sat there for a few seconds before looking to the Skaven next to him
>She stared at him with the same serious look, expecting him to say something
>"Did you hear that, it is my sister-peasants... Their speak-chittering."
>Shooting her head back to looking around the corner, the Kriegsman is left confused on what she meant and just stands in the alleyway letting her do whatever she was doing
>A sudden weight hits him, forcing him to the ground and knocking the wind out of him
>Snuch looks back quickly and adopts an angered glare towards her gutter-runner sister
>she sat on the Kriegsman's back straddling him while reciprocating a stare at her sister, albeit more surprised
>Her surprise soon changed to a similar angry glare, she flattened her ears and bared her razor sharp teeth
>Then the angry squeaks and trills of two Skaven fill the alleyway, both pointing weapons and fingers alike to the other
>The Kriegsman in all of this stayed completely silent simply opting to look at the two bickering rats
>Minutes of arguing dragged on before a drunkard stumbled in, trying to focus on what he was seeing before him
>The two Skaven stop their bickering and snap their heads in the direction of the man, not making a move
>Shaking his head and rubbing his eyes he stumbles off muttering about elves mixing the alcohol
>Both Skaven look to each other and nod, begrudgingly making a silent truce for the moment
>After everything had calmed down, the Kriegsman pushes himself up to his feet, making the unknown Skaven straddling his back fall face first into the dirt
>She groans and spits out some dirt while Snuch lets out a hissy laugh in response
>"Shut up dumb-stupid sister-thing, you always take the Man-thing!"
>Her crimson eyes flicking from Snuch to the Kriegsman
>Snuch crosses her arms and rolls her eyes to her sister's accusation
>"He is MY Man-thing, I found-discovered him! Find your own, Sister-peasant."
>The second Skaven growls and pushes herself up from the dirt
>She stands up and wipes as much of the dirt she can from the black cloak she has on
>Picking up the glowing green blades from the floor, she composes herself
>"All of these man-things are WEAK! They cannot even fight-kill a ogre-rat like him!"
>Snuch sighs at her sister's reasoning, placing a paw on her temple and rubbing
>She waves a dismissive paw at the gutter-runner and grabs the Kriegsman's gloved hand, pulling him into the streets with the peasants and drunkards again
>The gutter-runner shuffles towards the duo and grabs onto the guardsman's free arm and hiding behind him, tentatively scanning the area
>After minutes of walking and the two Skaven butting heads the trio reach an old dilapidated house, Snuch taking charge as always marches to the door knocking on it a few times and whispering something to the door
>She rears up a kick and hits the door dead center, quickly hopping back from the door to the Kriegsman's side, before soon the door flies open and a hook with spikes lined on the inside launches out desperately looking for a target
>The hook retreats and to little surprise a Skaven's head pops out, covered by a shawl with the same piercing crimson eyes of the other two Skaven
>It glares at Snuch before noticing the guardsman standing next to her, the Packmaster's red eyes go wide as a rancid musk of fear is ejected from it's body
>Accompanying the musk is a scream and the clattering of bones from it's belt as it scrambles to get a grip on the handle of it's weapon, trying to get the spiked hole over the Kriegsman's helmet
>The Packmaster feebly attempts to ensnare to man for a few more seconds before the guardsman grabs the weapon and yanks it away from the rat
>He snaps it in two tossing away the spiked portion haphazardly away and dropping the wooden shaft of the weapon at the feet of the now paralyzed Rat
>Staring at the Packmaster with a dead look he waits for one of the Skaven next to him to speak up to the frozen rat
>Snuch walks forward and pushes on the Packmaster's shoulder trying to bring them back to reality and get a clear answer to whatever she asked when she was near the door
>The Gutter-runner huffed and shoved past the guardsman stomping her way to Snuch and pointing a blade to the Packmaster's neck
>"Sister-thing, you will not get any answers like this, you must use violence-force!"
>With angry trills and squeaks from the Gutter-runner not having any effect on the stunned Skaven she yells into the sky and stomps off and sits with her back to a wall, pouting while doing so
>The guardsman glances around at both Abhumans that have accompanied him, turning back to the third he walks up to it
>Scooping the packmaster, it let's out a quiet squeak of surprise and is hoisted into an underarm carry
>The guardsman saunters back to the 2 preoccupied rats and taps Snuch's shoulder to catch her attention
>In one fluid motion she reaches and draws her dagger on the man, hastily aiming it towards the neck
>The Kriegsman simply stares at her unflinching, and unfeeling waiting for a vocal response
>Upon realizing who she pulled the dagger on, she scrambles to sheath it and quickly let's out a flurry of apologies
>"Oh my Man-thing I'm sorry!"
>Once finished, she notices the still stunned packmaster under the Kriegsman's arm
>She huffs and mutters something out with jealousy apparent in her words
>"My man-thing, what are you doing with this packmaster?"
>He looks down back at the packmaster then to the once melancholic Rat-woman looking up at him with a now annoyed expression, pointing to the forest roughly where the cave leading back to their "home" is
>She follows his finger but simply stares out into the forest for a few seconds before turning back to the guardsman and huffs at him
>"What do you want-want, my man-thing?"
>Ignoring the question he walks past her and to the gate of the city, intending to leave
>Quick tapping of claws on concrete follow behind him before a familiar mix of brown, red, and blue appears in his vision
>Sighing she quietly asks something while looking down at the stone path to avoid making a fool of herself even more
>"My man-thing, where are we going?"
>He lifts and arm and points at the city gate, then letting it limply fall back to his side
>With a nod she continues to follow him in silence
>Reaching a paw out to grab his hand she interlocks her clawed fingers with his, with the guardsman not reciprocating
>She let's out a sad shortlived sigh before her gutter-runner sister crashes into the pair sending them both tumbling into the ground, exclaiming in utter rage
>"YOU AND THE MAN-THING LEFT ME BEHIND, HOW DARE-DARE YOU!"
>Snuch growls and pushes herself off the ground and charging towards the Gutter-runner repeating the same angry yells at her sister
>They draw weapons on each other constantly bringing the weapons close to each others bodies but never touching
>Standing back up, the Kriegsman turns back to the two rats bickering amongst each other again
>The two Skaven's arguing gets progressively violent before it boils over, Snuch tosses her dagger away and jumps on the Gutter-runner scratching at her with claws
>The gutter-runner returns the favor tossing away her own weapons and fighting with her bare claws
>The two go back and forth multiple times still yelling and slinging insults at each other
>Minutes later the two lie on the stone path, bruised and bloodied and heaving for breath still staring daggers at each other
>The guardsman stands on the sidelines watching their fight finally end
>Walking up to the two rats, he gets both of them to their feet
>They both stand with slight difficulties legs shaking and ego bruised, the gutter-runner grumbles a forced "thank you" before limping to next to the guardsman
>Snuch follows suit, limping to the guardsman before her legs buckle sending her falling to the ground
>With a moan she lies there, unwilling and unwanting to move
>The Kriegsman takes a few steps towards her examining the wounds on her body
>After a few seconds he lifts her up, dropping her onto his shoulder
>Wrapping an arm around her thigh to secure her to his shoulder, he continues onward with the gutter-runner lagging behind
>Past the gates the Kriegsman walks out without bothering to look at the guards
>The gutter-runner forces a quick jog to him, groaning in pain as she moves not caring if the guards even saw her
>Limping besides the guardsman as they walk in the forest she racks her brain for ideas to get him on her side
>'Oh-OH! I can show him how stealth-sneaky I can be... yes-yes, that's what I will do! Oh you are such a smart-witted one.'
>'...Wait would he be more interest-excited about knives? I have many-many yes-yes...'
>A wide toothy grin creeps to the sides of her muzzle and she lets out a loud cackle too enthralled in her ideas to notice her volume
>A pained moan cuts the cackling short as Snuch tosses a broken tree branch at her, hitting her square on the back of the head
>Shooting an angry glare at the vague direction of the branch that hit her she mutters under her breath about trees being stupid